Vacuum cleaners are well-known household cleaning devices that are used to clean dirt and debris from rugs, carpets, floors and other surfaces. Vacuum cleaners typically use a motor/fan assembly for generating suction to draw air and debris into the vacuum cleaner, a filtration and/or separation assembly for separating dirt and debris from the air drawn into the vacuum cleaner by suction force and a collection chamber for collecting and storing the separated dirt and debris for later disposal. Some types of vacuum cleaners use disposable bag filters to collect debris drawn into the vacuum cleaner. The debris-laden air is drawn into the bag, where it is collected and stored, and the relatively clean air exits through the porous walls of the bag to the surrounding environment.
Other types of vacuum cleaners, sometimes referred to as bagless cleaners, may employ a debris collection container or cup to collect debris drawn into the vacuum cleaner, which can be removed to dispose of the collected debris and replaced onto the vacuum cleaner. One or more cyclonic separators can be provided to separate the debris from the air and deposit the debris in the collection container. Particulate filters can be provided on the intake side and/or the outlet side of a suction motor to further filter the air before the air is exhausted to the surrounding environment.
Some vacuum cleaners include a fragrance or deodorizing element to provide a fragrance or deodorize the air that is drawn into and exhausted from the vacuum cleaner during use. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,837,772 and 7,951,230 to Sepke discloses a variety of filter assemblies for a vacuum cleaner that include sodium bicarbonate or other material, such as a fragrance, for deodorizing the air flowing through the vacuum cleaner in both bagless vacuum cleaners and vacuum cleaners which include bag filters. In the context of a vacuum cleaner which uses a filter bag, an air-pervious sachet filled with sodium bicarbonate can be placed within the filter bag, on the outside of the filter bag or within the filter bag compartment. In another example, deodorant sheets with a sodium bicarbonate mixture impregnated in a single sheet or pressed between two air permeable sheets can be placed inside or adhesively bonded to the inner surface of the bag. Alternatively, a slurry of sodium bicarbonate can be printed or painted onto the filter bag material or provided in powdered form between layers of the filter bag.
In the context of a bagless vacuum cleaner in which debris is collected in a cup, the Sepke patents disclose forming the sodium bicarbonate into solid structures, such as a sleeve that fits into an air conduit, or other structure provided in a dirt cup assembly through which air flows in the vacuum cleaner, such as an air deflector. In another example, sodium bicarbonate can be impregnated into the filter material of a pleated filter or painted or printed onto the filter material of a pleated filter through which air passes on its way to the vacuum motor. In yet another example, the vacuum cleaner can include a filter frame which is connected to a deodorizer chamber which can be filled with deodorizer pellets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,420 to Bosses and U.S. Pat. No. 3,274,758 to Parman disclose filter bags which can include a deodorizing material. The Bosses '420 patent discloses a porous substrate having an active agent thereon or therein that can be adhesively secured to the outer surface of the filter bag. The active agent can be an ingredient, such as an essential oil, that re-odorizes or deodorizes the air passing through the filter paper of the filter bag. The Parman '758 patent discloses a filter bag in which an envelope filled with a deodorizing material is provided at the inlet opening of the filter bag. The envelope is ruptured when the exhaust conduit is inserted through the inlet opening of the filter bag and the deodorant particles are released into the filter bag.
Devices can also be used to provide a deodorizer or fragrance to air flowing through air ventilation systems. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,547,636, 5,698,166 and 5,861,128 to Vick et al. disclose an air freshening device which includes a fragrant material applied to an air permeable substrate. The fragrant material can be an ethylene vinyl acetate-based hot melt adhesive mixed with a fragrant liquid. The air permeable substrate can then be attached to a filter in a forced air heating, ventilating or cooling system using an attachment device having a barbed shaft which engages the fibers of the filter to hold the substrate against the filter.
Another example of a reference that discloses attaching a fragranced, air permeable structure to an air filter in a ventilation system is U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,333 to Frigon. Frigon '333 discloses a perforated cardboard packet having adhesive-backed tabs for attaching the packet to the corners of a filter. A solid deodorant insert of air freshening material is provided within the packet.
Hot-melt adhesives which include a fragrance have also been used to provide containers with a fragrance. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,759 to Coyne et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,758 to Mitchell et al. both disclose an ethylene vinyl acetate-based hot melt adhesive comprising a fragrance for use in the head space of a container, such as a bleach container. U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,791 to Revlon discloses an ethylene vinyl acetate-based hot melt adhesive composition that is provided on a container that includes a color indicative of the color of the cosmetic inside the container, and which can also include a fragrance.